- Arnold Schwarzenegger's daily Pump Club newsletter recommended a workout called 10/10.
- It involves just 10 minutes of bodyweight exercises and a 10-minute walk.
- I tried it and will definitely do it again when I'm short on time and motivation.
One of the biggest barriers to working out regularly is finding the time. But, workouts don't need to be long, and anything is better than nothing.
Earlier this week, Arnold Schwarzenegger's daily "Pump Club newsletter shared a workout that requires just 10 minutes of work and a 10-minute walk. It's called the 10/10 workout and was devised by personal trainer Cory Gregory.
The workout is simple and involves just two movements: squats and push-ups. You perform one squat, then one push-up, then two of each, then three, and so on until 10 minutes is up.
The idea is that it's scalable:
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Beginners can do chair squats and wall/incline push-ups (with your hands on a wall, bench, or chair)
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The intermediate level is bodyweight squats and push-ups
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The advanced version is weighted squats with a dumbbell or kettlebell, and dumbbell chest press.
If you're using weights, it can take some trial and error to find the right one, but the newsletter recommended choosing one that you can usually perform 10 to 12 reps with, even if that feels very light at first.
You then go for a 10-minute walk, and that's it.
Gregory told Insider that he recommends this workout for two reasons.
"I believe everyone has 20 minutes and most people can scale this workout then walk after," he said. "I think this has a very high attainability rate of completion and this format could really be applied with any two exercises and time frames."
It's a full-body workout combining strength and cardio
I've been strength-training and working out regularly for over six years, but I also travel a lot so don't always have access to a gym or any equipment.
I read about the 10/10 workout while visiting (and working from) my parents' home, so I decided to give it a try during my lunch break.
Before trying the workout, I wasn't worried about the squats considering I would just be using bodyweight. I was, however, worried about the push-ups. While I may have completed 100 push-ups a day for 100 days during lockdown, I haven't been practicing them much since and my strength has definitely declined.
I knew the number of reps was going to swiftly increase, so figured if I had to go down to my knees I would just do that and keep going.
And that's what I did.
The workout went by quickly but quickly got challenging in the push-up department. The squats never felt too hard, but they kept my heart rate up and I got out of breath and sweaty. Next time, I think I'll try holding a weight.
I lost track of how many reps I was on at times, but I think I got up to about 15 reps of each movement by the end.
For me, and I'm sure many others — perhaps women in particular considering research shows building upper body strength can be more challenging for us — push-ups and bodyweight squats aren't really evenly matched in difficulty level.
My advice would be to take the set levels as a guide and modify them to your own level. If you need to do incline push-ups but weighted squats, do it.
It's perfect for when you're short on time or motivation
On the whole, I loved this workout. It was a simple full-body blitz that combined both strength and cardio, and the format keeps it interesting. You can't think about much more than counting your reps.
Unlike workouts where you're trying to get as many reps in as possible, that isn't the aim here, so you don't feel tempted to compromise form for speed.
I loved the addition of the walk afterwards too. It makes for a nice cool down. When I'm working from home, lunch break time is valuable — I like to get outside and get some movement in, while also finding time to make and eat lunch. This workout allows you to do it all.
Despite being a fitness reporter, I don't always feel motivated to workout. But everyone can find 10 minutes (if not 20), and unless you're wearing super restrictive clothing, I'd argue you don't even need to change into workout gear.
I'm definitely going to try this workout again and may also try mixing it up with different exercises.